There are two things in life that are guaranteed, the saying goes. Death and taxes. In business, there are a few things that, while not guaranteed, always have been and always will be, critical to all companies regardless of size, sector, or location: the wellbeing and productivity of their workforce.
In recent years, we have seen a significant uptick in the willingness of corporations to shift their mindset from reactive healthcare (providing insurance benefit packages for employees to use after they get sick) to proactive healthcare (implementing wellness programs to help people improve habits and lifestyles, and prevent illness in the first place).
Complicating this shift is the fact that healthcare itself, as an industry, is in transition. New technologies and evolving business models, demographic shifts, and evolving consumer expectations are all converging to create an environment at once volatile and uncertain but also full of new challenges and opportunities.
The Demographic Shift
There is no doubt anymore that the world really is going gray, and grayer. In its 2016 Global Healthcare Outlook report, Deloitte reports that life expectancy has increased from 72.3 years in 2014 to an estimated 73.3 years in 2019, bringing the number of people who are 65 years or older to over 604 million. That’s 10.8 percent of the global population.
The report goes on to say that neither quality of health nor development of age-appropriate health policies and services are keeping up with this longevity. As with anything that lacks service, this area presents great opportunity for those agencies, health plans and employers that understand the value of investing in the long-term wellness and productivity of their workforce, and in helping to shape the policies of the future. This will, among other things, require moving past those many misperceptions and assumptions about the decline of mental and physical abilities in older people. Change is needed not just in attitudes but also in health policies, products and services for aging populations, and the various inequities that underlie how older workers are perceived and treated.
As the World Health Organization states in its 2015 World report on aging and health, “contrary to common assumptions, aging has far less influence on health care expenditures than other factors, including the high costs of new medical technologies.”
New Technologies
Technological advance, with all of the disruptive economic paradigms it brings along, presents a dual onslaught against traditional healthcare companies:
First, the very nature of healthcare-related professions is changing: futurists expect to see more remote or virtual specialists, remote surgeons, and even neuro-implant technologists. Just as technology changes business models, so too the professions and jobs that come with those business models will evolve.
Secondly, a wave of new companies is coming in, from technology startups deploying digital health mobile apps, to new medical device manufacturers, to companies that are blurring the line between medical device and personal gadget (see Whill.us as an innovative example). Rising in popularity are medical-grade wearable medical devices designed to aid the prevention or treatment of specific diseases, such as diabetes, sleep disorders, and cardiovascular disease.
PwC reports that the percentage of traditional healthcare company CEOs who felt that new players in their space presented a threat to their own growth increased from 28% in 2012 to 50% in 2016. But where some see the end of their world, others see evolution and opportunity. It’s the open-minded, forward-looking employer that will adapt along with, and benefit from, these sea changes. Competition is not the only option—we are likely to see some interesting collaborations and partnerships in the next several years.
Consumers and the Online World
Most importantly for workers and consumers alike, there is an extraordinary wealth of information related to health, wellness, and medicine available for people online. From articles and blog posts to mobile apps and forums, anyone who can connect to the Internet can access vast oceans of content and information. Never have we had access to such a massive amount of data, content and information.
In line with this trend is also consumers’ deepening relationship with sharing their information and communicating with their physicians and other healthcare providers either via email or online. People are also increasingly comfortable paying their medical bills via not just the web but their mobile devices as well.
Of course, these vast amounts of data inevitably lend themselves to inaccuracies and wrong information, or simply misinterpretation—this is truly a world where the consumer need beware! Worse still, there lurks the very real danger of theft due to provider data breaches, enabling thieves to use social security numbers and medical records to obtain medical services. The onus tends to be on the victims to restore their credit and correct wrong information in their medical records, because most healthcare organizations do not offer protection services to their clients.
Paradoxically perhaps, organizations such as Deloitte say that “providers [who] wish to retain existing patients and engage new ones… should invest in electronic health records (EHRs) that provide a fully featured patient portal system” and that health plans are developing “unique offerings” and training their employees to be more customer-focused. This is all well and good, but the security of patient records and information must take an absolute priority. While this is a very real and serious matter, it also presents an equally real opportunity to entrepreneurs to launch these types of protection services, and serve a real good for society.
Tip of the Healthcare Iceberg
With this article, we have just barely scratched the surface of the transformation and evolution of healthcare in this century. It is true that between the demographic shifts, increasing consumer preferences and expectations, and technologies that enable people to take greater responsibility for their well-being, overall we are a much more informed and empowered society. Reports by organizations such as WHO, PwC and Deloitte provide a deeper dive into facts and trends. But the details of how the new realities will play out depend on the choices and actions of all of the stakeholders over the next several years: employees, employers, government agencies, health plan providers, pharmaceutical companies, and of course all those startups. What is in our hands now is how we, whatever role we play as stakeholders, shape the policies and services that support the productive, healthy and vibrant workforce of the future.
Alan Wang is the President of UBF and serves as the lead consultant. He has delivered the UBF solution set throughout the world and is highly regarded for his areas of expertise. You can follow him on Twitter @UBFconsulting.